Burning tanker shuts down northbound traffic on Interstate 85 near Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday. - Screencapture Via YouTube

Burning tanker shuts down northbound traffic on Interstate 85 near Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday.

Screencapture Via YouTube

Two people died in a fiery collision between a tanker truck and passenger car on Interstate 85 northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday morning that threatened to spread flames further south via the storm drains.

New agencies quote the Gwinnett County Police as saying 31-year-old Emerald Lynn or Norcross had stopped her car to avoid a separate accident. Yonas Worku, 44, of Snellville was unable to stop his tanker truck in time to avoid Lynn’s car.

“Police arrived to find the overturned tanker truck and a passenger car full engulfed in flames,” the Gwinnett County Police website states. The northbound lanes of I 85 were shut down by the flames.

Further complicating the situation, burning liquid pouring from the ruptured tanker flowed into a nearby storm drain, first spreading fire south of the wreck scene, then crossing underneath the southbound lanes before exiting the storm drain, halting interstate traffic in both directions.

“Several drivers that were stopped on the Interstate were evacuated on foot from their vehicle and took cover behind nearby businesses,” the police website states.

Fire crews from both Gwinnett County and Dekalb County addressed the spreading fires, closing in on the still burning accident to eventually extinguish it as well.

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